Chapter 43: Final Confession

Tiffany took a deep breath, her fingers tightening around the phone as she dialed Mamita Dionee's number.

The line rang three times before she answered.

"Mamita Dionee, I'm in trouble. I need you."

There was a pause, before Mamita's calm, knowing voice filled her ear. "How may I help you, my dear?"

Tiffany exhaled slowly, her heart pounding with resolution. "I'm going to burn down a brotherhood."

A beat of silence.

"Are you sure this is what you want, child?"

"Yes, Mamita. I need to do this."

The help arrived faster than expected. In less than an hour, Tiffany had everything she needed to bring an empire to its knees.

Dressed in a tight black tactical suit, she moved through the shadows, silent and unseen. The mansion—her childhood home, the symbol of her stolen birthright—stood before her, its grand walls whispering of memories she had long buried. The thought of burning it to the ground twisted something in her chest.

Her mother's laughter had once filled these halls. But that was another lifetime.

"I know you're scared and sad, little Heiress," a familiar voice cooed inside her head. "But there is no turning back now."

The voice—her constant companion in this plan—never failed to uplift her dying spirit.

"All the people who hurt you deserve to die."

Tiffany nodded, a slow, eerie smile crawling onto her lips.

'Yes. There is no turning back anymore.'

With calculated precision, she planted explosives in every crucial corner of the estate. It took her fifty minutes—ducking behind statues, slipping past guards, maneuvering through secret corridors she had memorized as a child.

The Academy had taught her well. Her father's expensive education had turned her into a weapon. And now? She knew she would win this war.

***

Lucio Hernandez's hands clenched into fists as he read the note Steffy had left behind.

Lucio,

It hurts to know you refuse to accept this child. I cannot stay with someone who despises my existence. I am going back to my father… and I will marry Yuan Lloyd Marquez. Please do not follow me.

The frustration burned into sorrow, and then into pure, blinding hatred. He needed to kill something. Someone.

Without hesitation, Lucio gathered his men. Tonight, war would be declared.

***

Hidden in the thick canopy of a tree, Steffy watched the chaos unfold.

Through her binoculars, she saw the Alphas scrambling, desperate to defend against the oncoming horde of Dragons.

Sebastian. Yuan. Both were armed and leading their men into battle and as she watched them mindlessly walk into her trap, she could not help but feel proud of herself.

Tonight, the bloodbath had begun.

Steffy chuckled. 'Pathetic fools…"

One by one, she pressed the detonator buttons.

BOOM!

Men flew into the air, their limbs torn apart by the force of the explosions.

Another click…

BOOM!

The ground shook, the estate trembled, and bodies piled onto the earth, unrecognizable.

Another shattering explosion. BOOM!

A section of the mansion crumbled.

The deafening sound was followed by silence…

Steffy tilted her head. Is it over?

And yet, she sensed movements. Her heart skipped a beat. From the smoking ruins, a shadow emerged.

Lucio. He was bloodied and battered—but still alive. His voice pierced through the night like a war cry.

"Tiffany!"

He staggered forward.

"Tiffany! Where are you?!"

Nearby, she saw Yuan and Sebastian rushing toward the mansion. Surely, they were looking for Don Alejandro. She smirked. They would never find him alive.

With the final explosion, she climbed down from the tree, her body moving like a robot. Grabbing two containers of gasoline from her armored truck, she made her way toward the mansion. Marie intercepted her, pleading to come along. But Steffy didn't stop walking. She had warned Marie—if she followed, she would put a bullet in her legs.

Marie knew better than to test her.

***

Steffy poured gasoline across the first floor, letting it soak into the elegant carpets and polished wood. Gunshots echoed from upstairs.

"The plan worked, little Heiress," the voice inside her murmured. "They're killing each other like pawns in a game of chess."

Steffy let out a low chuckle. The mansion reeked of betrayal and blood, and she was the master of it all.

She ascended the stairs, following the trail of violence to the third floor. She could hear muffled voices, followed by a scream from Sebastian.

Steffy's eyes gleamed in excitement.

Earlier, she stood before her father, disguised in a skimpy belly dancer's attire. Alejandro was grinning, his lecherous gaze raking over her.

"You remind me so much of my daughter," he mused. "She danced just like you."

Tiffany smiled sweetly as she continued to sway her hips. "Where is she now?"

Alejandro laughed. "Oh, you also sound just like her. But she's dead. I made sure of it."

Tiffany's blood ran cold. "Dead?"

The old man took a sip of his drink, completely oblivious to the honesty drug Mamita Dionee had suggested.

"She was our sacrificial lamb," Alejandro confessed. "I gave her to the Dragons—offered her as a truce."

Steffy's stomach churned.

"The Dragons and the Alphas have been at war for too long. I needed to secure our dominance. So, I gave them my only daughter. A ceasefire in exchange for her life."

Tiffany held back despite the bile rising in her throat.

'A ceasefire.'

Her father had sold her like a piece of property.